Johan Zulch de Villiers (12 July 1845 – 18 July 1910) was a South African politician and attorney. He was

mayor of Johannesburg The Mayor of Johannesburg is the chief executive of the City Council and the highest elected position in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. List of mayors * Johan Zulch de Villiers (1897–1900) Appointed by South African Republic Executi ...

from 1897 to 1900.

Life

Johan Zulch de Villiers was born in 1845 in

Paarl Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

. He was educated at the Paarl gymnasium as well as privately by Dr. Rose Innes at

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. For fifteen months he joined the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

forces in the

Basuto Gun War The Basuto Gun War, also known as the Basutoland Rebellion, was a conflict between the Sotho people, Basuto and the British Cape Colony. It lasted from 13 September 1880 to 29 April 1881 and ended in a Basuto victory. Following Basutoland's tran ...

. He passed as an attorney and was an advocate of the High Court. He then entered civil service becoming the

private secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in ...

to President

Johannes Brand Sir Johannes Henricus Brand, (popularly known as Sir Jan Brand and sometimes as Sir John Henry Brand or Jan Henrick Brand; 6 December 1823 – 14 July 1888) was a South African lawyer and politician who served as the fourth state president ...

. Between 1881 and 1897 de Villiers was the

landdrost {{Use dmy dates, date=December 2020 ''Landdrost'' was the title of various officials with local jurisdiction in the Netherlands and a number of former territories in the Dutch Empire. The term is a Dutch compound, with ''land'' meaning "region" an ...

of several towns including

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

, Barberton and

Lydenburg Lydenburg, officially known as Mashishing, is a town in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality, on the Mpumalanga highveld, South Africa. It is situated on the Sterkspruit/Dorps River tributary of the Lepelle River at the summit of the Long Tom Pass. ...

. He also worked in Swaziland. The government appointed him as the first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

( nl,

burgemeester Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief m ...

) of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

on 1 October 1897. The first meeting of the

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second t ...

was held on 4 October 1897. He was the mayor until Johannesburg's surrender to Frederick Roberts on 31 May 1900 during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. The British then appointed Colonel Walter Alfred John O'Meara as the new mayor and administrator of the city. De Villiers died in Pretoria in 1910 at the age of 65.

Personal life

He is a member of the

de Villiers de Villiers is a common French and Afrikaans surname. It may refer to: * De Villiers (playwright) (c. 1600–1681), French playwright and actor *AB de Villiers, a former South African international cricketer *De Villiers Graaff, a former South Afr ...

family who are of French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

descent. On 1 November 1870 he married Susanna Margaretha de Villiers, the first cousin of

John de Villiers, 1st Baron de Villiers John Henry de Villiers, 1st Baron de Villiers (15 June 1842 – 2 September 1914) was a Cape lawyer and judge. He was Attorney-General in the Molteno Government, Chief Justice for the Cape Colony, and later the first Chief Justice for the Un ...

. They had 8 children: Rachel Gerhardina, Secondus Petrus, Anna Matilda, Margaretha, Johan Zulch Voight, George Ferdinan Esselen, Ludowicus van der Merwe, and Septima Elizabeth Bland. His daughter Anna Matilda later married George Wreford Hudson, the

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

and

registrar A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the se ...

of the Swaziland court.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:de Villiers, Johan, Zulch Mayors of Johannesburg 1845 births 1910 deaths People from Paarl 19th-century South African politicians Cape Colony people South African people of French descent Afrikaner people 19th-century South African lawyers People of the Basuto Gun War

Life

Personal life

See also

References

Sources